Section B·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, December 3, 1997
Associated Press selects All-Big 12 football team
The Associated Press
DALLAS — Nebraska dominated the 1997 Associated Press All-Big 12 football team with six first-team players.
Texas A&M, which will face the Cornhuskers in Saturday's conference championship game, had three first-team honorees.
Second ranked Nebraska was represented by offensive linemen Aaron Taylor and Eric Anderson, defensive linemen Jason
Peter and Grant Wistrom, defensive back Ralph Brown and running back Ahman Green.
The 14th-ranked Aggies who were chosen include offensive lineman Steve McKinney, linebacker Dat Nguyen and punter Shane Lechler.
A balloting of Big 12 writers came up with a dream backfield of Ahman Green of Nebraska, Ricky Williams of Texas and De'Mond Parker of Oklahoma.
Williams ran for more than 200
yards in six games and led the nation in rushing and scoring.
Both Williams and Green are juniors. Parker, a sophomore, missed the last part of Oklahoma's season with an injury.
Corby Jones, a junior from Missouri, beat out Nebraska's Scott Frost for the first-string quarterback berth. Jones led the Big 12 in total offense at 231 yards per game. The Tigers went to their first bowl in 14 seasons.
The offensive line is huge. The 289-pound McKinney is the only first-teamer weighing less than 300 pounds. The other picks are Nebraska's Taylor and Anderson, Mike Morris of Missouri and Todd Weiner of Kansas State.
The tight end was Alonzo Mayes of Oklahoma State. Mayes missed the last month of the season because of an injury but was impressive during his time on the field.
The wide receiver was Tyrone Watley of Iowa State,who led the league in catches and touchdowns.
The place-kicker was Martin Gramatica of Kansas State, who hit 19 of 20 field goal attempts.
Wistrom and Peter were joined
BIG 12
on the defensive line by Texas Tech's Montae Reagor, a junior who had 97 tackles.
Nguyen, who had 114 tackles, including 20 in a win against Colorado, led a linebacker crew that included Jeff Kelly and Mark Simoneau of Kansas State and Ron Warner of Kansas.
The secondary included R.W. McQuarters of Oklahoma State, Ryan Sutter of Colorado and Brown of Nebraska.
McQuarters, a junior, is one of the most exciting players on the Big 12 team. He was second in balloting to Ben Kelly of Colorado as the all-conference kick returner. McQuarters played some receiver and both safety and cornerback. He was the league's leading punt returner, with a 16-vard average.
Lechler's average of 47 yards per punt was second-best in the nation.
Kansas State's quarterback Michael Bishop was named the newcomer of the year.
Green Bay packing luck
By Dave Goldberg The Associated Press
Champs aim to repeat success by adding to team
Two weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers surrendered 467 yards and 41 points as the Indianapolis Colts got their only win this season. San Francisco, meanwhile, was rolling to its 10th-straight win.
Two weeks later, the momentum has reversed. The Packers, having broken losing streaks to the Cowboys and at Minnesota, look like Super Bowl winners again. The 'Niners are reeling from a 44-9 drubbing by Kansas City.
Moreover, the 49ers know that all 11 wins have been against teams that now have losing records and that they have lost to the only winners they have faced — the Bucs on opening day and the Chiefs.
"We've got to beat a winning team," coach Steve Mariucci said.
They will get their chance Sunday at home against the Vikings, then the Broncos come to San Francisco. But even a win against Minnesota might not be convincing because the Vikings (9-5) have lost three consecutive games, including Monday night at home to Green Bay.
That's the other side of the coin.
The Green Bay defense not only throttled the Vikings, holding them to 144 yards in three quarters and 253 for the game, but also the Packers got the breaks. The biggest was the interception Corey Fuller dropped one play before Bret Favre threw an 18-yard TD pass to Robert Brooks, which put the Packers ahead to stay.
"Some times you guess right, and you make a play." Favre said. "I didn't that time. I didn't see Corey Fuller, and he should have picked it off."
It could be his game for the rest of the season.
It could be their game for the rest of the season.
In the two weeks after the 41-38 disaster in Indianapolis, they defeated Dallas for the first time in eight games under Mike Holmgren and won in Minnesota, where Holmgren was 0-5. The combined score: 72-28
The win against the Vikings ensured Green Bay a Wild Card. If they win in Tampa on Sunday — no easy matter — they would clinch the NFC Central.
They are also right on San Francisco's heels for home-field advantage.
Are this year's Packers as good as last year's?
Take it from the man who built them.
"I think we're better in some spots and not as good in others," general manager Ron Wolf said after Monday night's game. "But overall, it's a wash. I think if we're not, we're getting there."
Wolf now is concentrating on picking up extra parts for the playoffs.
Last week, he signed Mark Collins, the defensive back who played 11 years for the Giants and Chiefs.
Collins, who won two Super Bowl rings with New York, adds experience to a secondary that lost starting cornerback Craig Newsome for the season with a knee injury in the opener.
Wolf chuckled when he was asked if Collins, who was inactive Monday night, had been signed specifically for the playoffs.
No, the Packers aren't thinking back to Indianapolis. They're thinking ahead — way ahead.
"Draw your own conclusion," he said. "Just say he was signed for — how do you say it? — his veteran status."
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